A tale of three Rosés

Just before going on vacation, I received three bottles of Rosés from the Kobrand Corporation. We enjoyed them with friends one warm evening with grilled steaks and a nice, big salad.

The lightest of the three was the 2008 Beaujolais Rosé Louis Jadot. The Beaujolais region has a long tradition of producing rosé, a wine made from Gamay like the red version. For this Rosé, the Gamay grape is vinified by being immediately pressed like a white wine after limited skin contact. The wine is then put into stainless steel vats. Showing a delicate pink color, it is fresh, dry, citrusy with a crisp finish, and perfectly pleasant as a light aperitif.

The spiciest was the 2008 Wild Rock Vin Gris Rosé. A blend of Merlot, with some Malbec, Syrah and Pinot Noir, the wine comes from Hawke's Bay, a major wine-producing region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. Hawke's Bay enjoys a dry and temperate climate with long, hot summers and cool winters. Vin Gris means gray wine and is another term for Rosé. The wine exhibits a medium pink color and aromas of honey and red berry on the nose. It is medium dry on the palate and slighly fizzy with a juicy finish.

The most serious one (and the one that worked best with the steaks) was the 2008 Tavel Château d'Aquéria. The Tavel appellation is located in the southern Rhône Valley, north of Avignon, and makes only Rosé wines. This one, produced by the Château d'Aquéria, is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mouvèdre, Cinsault, Clairette, Bourboulenc, and Picpoul, grown on sandy hillsides and clay. After being completely destemmed, grapes are put into maceration vats for 24 to 48 hours. Grape varieties are then blended two by two for greater aromatic complexity. Then the juice is drawn from the vats and fermentation takes place. All the grape varieties are then blended together and age for several months before being bottled at the estate. The wine has a light red color with aromas of red berries on the nose. On the palate, it is dry, well structured, with fresh mineral notes and a nice complexity on the finish.

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An apéritif of Gougères and Bourgueil Rosé

Gougères are a specialty of the Burgundy region. These small cheese puffs are usually served as apéritif with a glass of Kir. They are delicious and easy to make, basically a cream puff dough (pâte à choux) with grated Gruyère cheese added to the dough before baking.



There was no Kir with our gougères, but instead, a light Rosé from the Loire Vallée, the 2008 Bourgueil Rosé Domaine de la Petite Mairie. Bourgueil is one of the major red wine appellations in the Loire Vallée. Wines are red or rosé and made from Cabernet Franc, locally called Breton. The story is that Cabernet Franc was introduced to the Loire Vallée by Cardinal Richelieu in the 17th century and planted at the Abbey of St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil under the care of an abbot named Breton.

The wine had a bright salmon color and floral notes and citrus aromas on the nose. On the palate, it was dry, juicy, fruity, and very refreshing. If you're looking for something light, fresh, and tasty for the summer, this is exactly what you need, and don't forget the gougères!

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A strawberry colored wine for a strawberry themed meal

What do you do with a few pounds of strawberries? a strawberry themed meal of course. First start with a Strawberry and Mixed Green Salad, followed by a Strawberry Risotto. The salad is fresh and fruity and the risotto creamy and tasty and not really sweet.


Strawberry and Mixed Green Salad, and Strawberry Risotto

For the dessert, I highly recommend making some Strawberry Shortcakes, a delightful dessert that consists of round biscuits cut in half and filled with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.


Strawberry Shortcakes

Then, what do you drink with a all-strawberry meal? A strawberry-colored wine such as the 2006 Cline Mourvèdre Rosé.



The Rosé, produced by Cline Cellars, is made from Mourvèdre grown on the winery's 100-year-old Oakley ranch vineyards in Contra Costa County. Cline Cellars makes four different bottlings of Mourvèdre: two reds (Ancient Vines Mourvèdre and Small Berry Mourvèdre), a dessert wine (Late Harvest Mourvèdre) and a Rosé. The Rosé is made in the style of a white wine, the skins being removed before the beginning of the fermentation, which allows the wine to pick-up a small amount of color and tannins. Fermentation is done at cold temperatures to preserve the fruit flavors, and halted just before the wine is dry.

The wine has a bright strawberry color and a nose of wild forest berries. On the palate, it is refreshing, citrusy, and slighly off-dry. Not a bad wine at all to go with the strawberries.

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A pink meal: Pasta alle Cinque Pi with rosé

I am always looking for ultra simple but tasty recipes, so here is the latest one that I found: Pasta alle Cinque Pi, a recipe that one of my friends of Swiss Italian origin has showed me recently.

The sauce is called cinque Pi because it is made of five (cinque) ingredients, all starting with the letter P in Italian: Panna (cream), Pomodoro (tomato), Prezzemolo (parsley), Parmigiano (parmesan), and Pepe (pepper). And it is really easy to make: you heat the cream in a saucepan and then add the tomato paste, parmesan, chopped parsley, and pepper. Mix with pasta and serve with grated parmesan cheese.

With the pasta, we tasted a Rosé from Château Routas in Provence, whose color matched remarkably well the cream and tomato based sauce.

Owned by David Murray, a wealthy Scottish entrepreneur, Château Routas is located in the Var region, between the Mediterranean coast and the foothills of the Alps. The estate has 40 hectares (99 acres) of vines planted with Chardonnay, Viognier, and Ugni Blanc for the white and Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Cabernet, and Carignan for the red and the rosé (which constitutes the majority of the production).

The 2006 Château Routas Rouvière Rosé is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah. It has a bright salmon pink color and a delicate nose of strawberry and white pepper. On the palate, it is dry and crisp with notes of red berry flavors and a slightly mineral finish. Simple but tasty like the recipe, and exactly what a rosé is supposed to be.



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